Vote for your NZAEE Seaweek 2014 ‘Ocean Champion’

Nominations have flooded in for this year’s new
initiative - the search for the 2014 NZAEE Seaweek “Ocean
Champion”. Over 20 nominations have been received and
voting to find the winner takes place from 1-28 February, so
if you haven’t voted yet go towww.seaweek.org.nz and choose your
favourite. The winner will be announced at the NZAEE
Seaweek National Launch on the Auckland Waterfront on Monday
3 March by MP Nicky Wagner and Auckland Mayor Len Brown.

NZAEE Seaweek National Coordinator Dr Mels Barton is
delighted at the response “The Ocean Champion initiative
celebrates all those individuals, groups and organizations
who work so hard to look after our seas and the marine life
that lives in them. It’s been great to receive so many
nominations in this first year of running the Ocean Champion
and it just shows that people do recognise how important
this work is and how special these people are that go the
extra mile to protect it for all of us ”.

The theme
for NZAEE’s Seaweek 2014 is “Our fragile, finite
taonga- be alert to the fragility of the marine
environment and its treasures. Kia mataara! Tiakina te au o
te moana, he kōpīpī tōna”. The theme highlights
how precious this amazing resource is that we call the
sea.

Running from March 1-9, NZAEE Seaweek 2014 will
call on Kiwis from all walks of life to celebrate
Tangaroa’s realm, tackle issues such as marine pollution
and learn about the positive impacts of initiatives such as
sustainable fishing and marine reserves to look after our
seas for future generations. We all contribute to taking
care of our oceans.

Many events are scheduled around
the country during NZAEE Seaweek 2014 and these are all
listed on the NZAEE Seaweek website at www.seaweek.org.nz. Events include
favourites such as ‘Goodbye Godwits’ bird watching,
guided snorkeling with Experiencing Marine Reserves, a giant
clean-up of Waiheke Island with Sustainable Coastlines,
films, lectures, guided walks, adventure races, regattas,
art exhibitions and lots of great competitions to test your
photography, poetry and short story writing
skills.

New for NZAEE Seaweek 2014 will be the launch
of more great opportunities to get children involved in
citizen science. The ‘Marine Metre Squared’ project,
overseen by the NZ Marine Studies Centre, encourages
schools, families, communities and iwi to get involved in
collecting valuable data and monitoring their local seashore
environment. The MM2 project will be launching a new guide
for soft sediments during NZAEE Seaweek 2014, so that sandy
and muddy shores can be assessed along with rocky shores.
Data entered into the MM2 website at www.mm2.net.nz will be used to help
scientists improve coastal management.

NZAEE Seaweek
2014 is coordinated by the New Zealand Association for
Environmental Education (NZAEE) and proudly supported by ASB
Community Trust, Department of Conservation, NZ Marine
Studies Centre, University of Otago, Auckland Council, the
DSP Print Group Ltd and many local
sponsors.

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